Joan Benson-Cacchione: Down in the 'Downton' dumps

"Downton Abbey" that is, the shocking season finale of which aired four weeks ago tonight. The episode in which X died, and, crikey! but you never saw that coming.

Unless you'd heard back at the start of the season -- in your zeal to gobble up any news of this PBS TV series we all crave -- that X was keen to move on in his career and wanted out of his "Downton" contract.

Oh, what's this? Crazy fan talk?

This isn't me. I dislike getting so hooked on a show.

But I am. Four weeks gone, and I miss this one terribly.

I know I'm not alone. The season three finale was seen by more than 8 million viewers. I've read that "Downton Abbey," with its peek into the secrets of an upper crust household in early 20th century England, has become the most-watched PBS series since "The Civil War." The "Downton" effect is so ubiquitous that even the venerable Philadelphia Flower Show this year adopted a British theme to -- "Mark your shed-yules!" -- trade on its popularity.

English roses aside, some of us are now withering on the offseason vine from "Downton" withdrawal. I, for one, miss the curt and clever rejoinders. What I wouldn't give to hear Lord Grantham again growl the phrase "as thick as thieves" as his man- servant helps him into his jacket.

Or to hear the Dowager Countess describe the endless tasks associated with parenthood as "the on and on-ness of it!"

Or to hear O'Brien bark, "Back in the knife box, Miss Sharp!" to housemaid Anna, who's just made a pointed remark.

To assuage my melancholy, I could queue up past seasons' episodes. I could visit www.pbs.org/downton and take a quiz: "How well do you know your quotes?" or relish there a collection of "zingers" delivered smartly by the Countess.

I, along with my spouse -- who joined me in front of the telly on those many Sunday nights -- can even take a quiz to see which "Downton Abbey" couple we are.

Or we can visit other websites, such as Fodor's, which recently offered tips on "how to travel like you own Downton Abbey."

But such pastimes are sure to pale. Then perhaps I'll find solace in our humdrum middlecrust household tasks on these "Downton"-empty Sunday nights, merely re-imagining scenes from my own life in a Yorkshire-village fashion.